1. Field of Invention
The invention is a transmission lift and stand to elevate and support one or more transmissions or other heavy vehicular parts for stationary work and repair at a height of optimal comfort and access by a mechanic, the device receiving transmission clamps and adapters attached to the transmission of vehicle. The transmission lift utilizes a piston ram to force a crossbar attached to a slider member up and down a main support post, with a locking mechanism to lock the slider assembly at a desired location on the main support post, elevating and maintaining up to four transmissions or other vehicle parts, and allowing for the raising a lowering the attached parts as needed during repair.
2. Description of Prior Art
The following United States patents were discovered and are disclosed within this application for utility patent. All relate to transmission stands or lift devices. In addition, several other transmission lift devices were located on the Internet and they are also disclosed.
The first series of patents relates to stands which disclose some type of lift mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,030 to Mohun, discloses a wheel drum and hub stand wherein a wheel or hub is attached to a vehicle hub or wheel, rolled back and then raised or lowered to perform repair or maintenance, after which the still attached wheel or hub is replaced on the vehicle. A xe2x80x9ccherry pickerxe2x80x9d hoist is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,304 to Woods, having a retractable arm for lifting and lowering a vehicle engine from within the hood of a vehicle. Dual hydraulic lifts which are used to lift entire vehicles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,071 to Bagwell and U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,540 to Wich, these devices grasping from the sides of the vehicles and lifting the vehicle in a vertical direction, maintaining a synchronism between the two sides to promote level lifting.
Another series of lift related device deal with static or non-moving lift devices, specifically stands for holding items in place or attaching to other items that move. A portable wheel hub remover mounted to a dolly or fork lift has a support plate bolted to the stud of a wheel on a vehicle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,638 to Kent. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,332 to Currie, a top side transmission lift attaching to a non-specific lifting device includes a chain pulley system and a sliding crank hoist to lift a transmission from above. Three stationary transmission stands or jacks are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,853 to Kuhn, U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,125 to Jenkins and U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,539 to Polastri, et al. A pivoting stand for front wheel drive transmission removal and support is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,602 to Rogos, which attaches to a transmission, rolls back from under the vehicle with the transmission attached, then pivots ninety degrees to lift and support the transmission for work or repair.
Two patents, U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,600 to Bode and U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,608 to Schelle, utilize a floor jack to provide the mounted device with a lift a lowering means, attaching the devices to the floor jack, rolling the attached device under a vehicle, attaching the device to a transmission, lowering the jack, removing the transmission from under the car, repairing the transmission and then reattaching the transmission, and lifting it in place using the device and the floor jack to reattach the transmission to the vehicle. An adapter to mount a transmission on an engine stand is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,271 to Davis, Jr.
A friction slide mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,084 to Baker, which comprises a body which is shaped to fit within a channel of a stay with a plastic skin overlying the body to separate the body from the channel of the stay with an adjustable means cooperating with the body for driving the plastic away from the body to regulate the friction between the slider and the stay.
In a search of other items which are currently on the market, a series of transmission jacks, manufactured by SUPERLIFTS.COM is found at www.superlifts.com.html/accessories.htm. These jacks include either air or hydraulic power, four adjustable load support arms, a foot operated pump, and a wide wheeled base. A similar telescoping transmission jack, made by Astro is found at www.mytoolstore.com/astro/asthyd06.html. These two devices are generic transmission jacks and are designed to roll under the vehicle to remove the transmission from the vehicle and transfer to a work area to perform the repair work. They also lift the transmission back under the vehicle to attach the repaired transmission. These devices, and several similar products on the market, are used in conjunction with the transmission lift of the present invention, bearing no functional or structural similarity.
Bonks Automotive makes several different models of transmission jacks, which are varied by weight capacity, these stands operating by means of a 12 volt electrical winch, much like those used on the front bumper of a pickup, usually powered by a 12 volt battery strapped to its stand. See, www.bonksauto.com. The Bonk design slides metal on metal and does not include any wear pads, nor does the slider mechanism include the same elements and attachment or relation to the other material components as the present invention. They also generally relate to a single transmission, as opposed to the present invention, holding as many as four transmissions. See also, www.RNBuilder.com.
None of the above noted patents or products, individually or in combination, include the same features or elements as the transmission lift device disclosed in this patent.
The primary objective of the subject transmission lift is to provide a transmission lift to facilitate the handling and movement of a transmission during the dismantling and rebuilding process to prevent damage to parts and personnel during this several step processes, eliminating the need for shop personnel to ever lift the transmission, providing a secure and stable means of access to all parts of the transmission during the entire repair procedure. The device has a maximum height that places the transmission at a suitable working height and a minimum height that allows the transmission to be transferred from the transmission jack after removal and prior to replacement. This replaces the presently available procedure of manually lifting the transmission by one or more personnel onto a flat immobile work surface, repairing the transmission in an unsupported manner, and manually lifting the repaired transmission back onto the transmission jack.
A second objective of the subject transmission lift is to provide the lift in a floor mounted embodiment, where the transmission work area is set aside, with the transmission lift accommodating up to four transmissions at one time for repair or rebuild.
A third objective is to provide the transmission lift with a pneumatic lift mechanism, connecting to a supplied shop compressed air line, the pneumatic lift mechanism having a simple air cylinder having a rubber cup seal, a replaceable wear band, a ram and a crossbar assembly within a square tubing support post, the crossbar assembly connecting to a slider assembly having internal wear pads between the support post and the slider assembly, the slider assembly also having a locking pawl mechanism interacting with a plurality of vertically oriented lock lugs on the support post, to securely lock the slider assembly in a fixed position on the support post during work on an attached transmission. The slide assembly is provided with numerous transmission adapter clamps which are bolted to the slider assembly, for grasping and holding the various transmissions of different makes and models of automobiles and trucks.
A fourth objective of the invention is to provide a transmission lift having multiple surfaces for the attachment of a variety of transmission clamp accommodating a variety of transmissions, the multiple surfaces having several threaded holes in different configurations, corresponding to the bolt attachments for the various transmission clamps and adapters.